1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to lids for beverage or food containers. More particularly, it relates to a lid having an insert that snaps into a container and is tightly secured thereto to inhibit inadvertent spilling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a well-publicized case, a customer of a fast food restaurant was scalded by hot coffee when the coffee spilled from a beverage container. Inventors have produced numerous container and lid designs over the years, but the art has not yet provided a container and lid combination that minimizes the chances that a hot beverage will be spilled inadvertently.
A 1906 patent to Kindig (822,895) discloses a bottle having a plurality of circumferentially and equidistantly spaced apart tabs integrally formed about its rim, and a closure means having a matching number of complimentarily formed latches that mate with the tabs. Since the tabs must be formed as a part of the bottle, this design increases the cost thereof.
A means for effecting sealing of a container in which the container is provided with a rim having a plurality of openings therein and a sealing cover is provided with a plurality of barbs for engaging such openings is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,327 to Leitz.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,127,993 to Hayworth discloses a construction somewhat like that of the above-mentioned Kindig invention. A plurality of circumferentially and equidistantly spaced apart gripping members are formed integrally with a bottle and project upwardly therefrom; each gripping member has a recess formed therein that captures a corresponding tab formed in a closure means. A special tool is needed to separate the lid from the bottle.
All of these earlier designs advanced the art at the time of their invention, but there remains a need for a design that enhances the grip between a container and its lid. Specifically, there remains a need for a design that provides a double seal between a container and its lid. In view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, however, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in this art how the needed construction could be provided.